Time Magazine Digs Into America's Food Crisis -- And How To Fix It

TIME:

We don't have the luxury of philosophizing about food. With the exhaustion of the soil, the impact of global warming and the inevitably rising price of oil -- which will affect everything from fertilizer to supermarket electricity bills -- our industrial style of food production will end sooner or later. As the developing world grows richer, hundreds of millions of people will want to shift to the same calorie-heavy, protein-rich diet that has made Americans so unhealthy -- demand for meat and poultry worldwide is set to rise 25% by 2015 -- but the earth can no longer deliver. Unless Americans radically rethink the way they grow and consume food, they face a future of eroded farmland, hollowed-out countryside, scarier germs, higher health costs -- and bland taste. Sustainable food has an élitist reputation, but each of us depends on the soil, animals and plants -- and as every farmer knows, if you don't take care of your land, it can't take care of you.

Read the whole story: TIME

Comments

[EagleBenny]

Great great article. I usually recommend Omnivore' s Dilemma for anyone interested in finding out about the food crisis in this country, however, this Time article is a perfect primer. A local food infrastructure IS needed and with the economy in it's current state, why not create jobs picking, packing, and transporting local food to schools and other state agencies? They just passed a law in Illinois catalyzing this very infrastructure creation. How about we move to do it on a Federal level?

[JScott]

Pretty much covered it all in 5 pages. Now the hard part is having the article create some awareness and then turning that into action.

[hulagirrrl]

If all of us would stop wasting so much food, that would be a good beginning. Sometimes when I am out at a picnic and see how much food people just discard, because their eyes were bigger than their stomach when they loaded their plates, all that waste could feed people. We could probably reduce production if we all were more cautious.

[roseau]

I clicked into a little sub-section on the top 10 worst kid foods. It was so poorly done. For example they rag on Pepperidge Farm goldfish for having too much salt and sugest graham crackers as a good substitute, and then the next item is a Kudos bar they criticize for having too much sugar. But graham crackers have too much sugar compared to goldfish. And salt is not a big issue for kids, just for older people with high blood pressure. Above all, there is no mention of all the CHEMICALS in these foods. Salt is not the biggest problem with the crappy lunchable things...there is simply no food in that food!

Anyway, I'm glad to see Time giving some more coverage to this issue. In New England there are still a lot of small-scale farmers who have kept their kitchen garden going, their farm stand successful through different food trends, and people around me have been enjoying local produce for decades. However, the new rise in interest has brought hope, success and stability to some of those old farms. Plus, new farmers are setting up shop all over - young people who are bringing back a passion for agriculture, food, independence, the environment and community. (Yes Riverland CSA, Sunderland MA, I'm talking about you! XOX)

[DonVitoCorleone]

The fact that our ag system is non-sustainable is a no brainer. Diversity including growing your own is ultimately the solution.

I can tell you from personal experience that a person can grow, can and freeze a great deal of produce in a small space provided they give it TLC and a lot of compost. This is what our parents and grandparents did. Sometimes those old ideas aren't so bad.

[ssophia]

I think this article makes a lot of key points about our society. In general, Americans prefer meat. If you think of all holiday celebration, they have a stereotypical meat. 4th of July: Hot dogs and hamburgers, Thanksgiving: Turkey, Christmas: Ham... all of which require the slaughtering of an animal. It is difficult to be a vegetarian because of all the offerings. America's food crisis roots from our reliance on meat. We do not grow enough of our own food or simply rely on grown food. We need to step up and solve the conflict. In doing so, humans will be come healthier and also solve part of the health dilemma in America.

[SFTor]

Time to repeat Michael Pollan's Golden Rule: " Eat food, mostly vecgetables, not too much."

[TruthmongerII]

Part of the answer is home gardening. Even an apartment dweller with a balcony can grow some food. I haven't had to buy tomatoes for a month, and the heirlooms would fetch $5/lb or more at Whole Paycheck. I also grow herbs in pots, mostly thyme, mint, oregano, lavender. It takes little time (5 minutes) & about a gallon of water a day.

[econ1]

Another crisis.

Better let the government run it.

[emily00011]

Didn't read the article??

To a good degree the government IS behind the problem by giving vast subsidies to corn. It makes your burger and fries far cheaper than they ought to be - just to name one effect.

[cliffhammond]

All the while, Whole Foods' CEO works to get the health insurance industry's endorsement.